National Republican., 1887-02-21

by the WuOle COnBrcBdtlUu, Debius'
'Safely through another week
God has brought us on our way;
Let US now blessing seek,
Waiting in His courts to-day"
Prof. Henry Eyre Brown, the organist, rem
dered satz No. in c minor, by Thiele. After
running comentary on appropriate passages
of Scripture, the Rev. t. Dewitt Talmage. d.
D., took for his text: "And he changed his be-
hayior before them. and feigned himself mad
in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of
the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his
beaid."-I Sam. xxi, l3. He said:
There is one scene in the life Of David that
you may not have pondeTsd. , 13p at, nave 70 sse seen
with sling smashing the skull OF Goliath,
with sword hacking to pieces the Philistines.
with sssPS Glng III yas wh
in my text, you have David playing the fool.
He has been anolnted king, yet he Is in exile
and passing nSosnitS wbH aUn Ss 'ns asd sa1:
wonder II this is not the warrior King David
1t looks like him. Is not this the man about
whom they composed a dance so that the
maidens OF the city, reeling now on one loot
and now on the other, used TO sing: Saul has
David. Il must be David. It is David"
David 70 escape their hands pTeteqds e be
not injure me- No one would be SO much
of O coward as to assault mauman.
are watching David with increased suspicion
they see him standing by the door running his
hands mean!nsess up ana iSHb aUwh me ne p@osa
climb up, his mouth wide open, drooling like
an infant. ! suppose the boys Of the streets
threw missiles et him. but M ne sober people S1 no Of
see that he has lost his reasonY Do not touch
this madman: Hands on hands oil so
David ESCAPED but what an me eSSisiien b6re ne
was majesty in King Lear's madness after
Regan and Goneril, his daughteTs. bad per,
spadcd him to b9nsh their ssr Ssn Ha
Merrilies was weird and imposing, and the
%Sst %aSsase %Ssass was m
the insanity OF Alexander Cruden, who made
the best concordance Of the Bible that the
houses Some time ago, while was visiting
The insane asylum on BlGckwelrs Island, a
demented woman came up to me aud said, In
most tTDgic style
"God moves in a mysterious way.
His wonders to performs;
He plants His footsteps In the sea
And rides upon the Storm
But there was nothing grand, nothing weird,
nothing majestic, nothing sublime ABOUT this
Stimulation on the part OF David. Instead oi
trusting In the Lord, as he had on other occa'
sions, he gathers before him vast audience
OF all generations that were to come. and
standing on that conspicnous stage OF history
in the presence of all the ages; he impersonates
the siavering idiot ''And he. changed his
behavior before them. and feigned himself
mad in their hands, and scrabbled at the dool
beard."N
Taking the behavior of David as sugges
tion, wish to tell you how many of the wise
and the brave, and the regal sometimes play
the fool. And In the first place. remark, tha
those men as badly play the fool as this mar
of the text, who in any crisis OF life take theiI
case out Of the hand Of God, David, In mi
case. acted as though there were no God TO lin
him out of the predicament. What a contrast
between his behavior, when this brave little
man stood up in front Of the giant ten feet IL
CONTEST to ME with a sword and with spear
ana with a shield; but come to thee in the
name Of the Lord of Hosts, tho God of thl
armies OF Israel whom thou hast deiied. This
day Will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand
and will smile thee and take thine head
from thee, and viii give the carcasses OF the
hosts of the Philistines this day unto the fowl;
Of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth
that all the, earth may know that there is &
God In Israeli between that time aud this
time, when he debased himself, and bedrag-
gled his manhood, and affected insanity In